Do you inspect the bolt of fabric before you cut?

[gene]

Do you always inspect the bolts of fabric before you start cutting them?

Most bolts of fabric have a paper attached or rolled up inside of them that say to inspect the fabric first before cutting. Once you cut the fabric you cannot return it.

I mentioned in another post on "nap" how I got a bolt of velvet this week that the customer wanted it railroaded even thought the nap runs up the bolt (vertical).

I always inspect my bolts. I roll them out and look to make sure they are OK. This is a PITA, but it has paid off a few times.

This velvet had wrinkles all through the bolt that looked like was coming from the backing and not that it had been rolled up wrong.

AND, the nap would not close! I'd run my hand in one direction to open the nap and then running it in the opposite direction that nap would not close.

Anyway, I'm guessing $1500.00 for those 14 yards of fabric, wholesale, out of my pocket, if I had cut into that fabric before inspecting it.

gene

[Darren Henry]

I know I should---but my diaper would have a cow if he saw me "wasting" that much time. I generally roll out the length of the cutting table (9 feet-ish) and as long as it is all good I go to town. If I were paying over a $100/yd like that though I'd probably make an exception.

[Mike]

that some costly stuff I would too but normaly with marine vinyl its not a problem they roll it with the liner out on the roll so I roll it off the end of my table liner up to trace my patterns on occation ive found stains on the face after I cut, that blowsl

[west coast]

I never used to but lately I have been burned by un marked flaws and joins in vinyl. Granted most of this is coming from designers and they get the fabric before me and THEY should be oking the product but its usually left to me to do. My real frustration is these people who stand the roll on end especially velvet arrrg. So yes I take the time to roll it out now it saves time not wastes time.

[sofadoc]

I should......but I don't.

I know that the tag says "No returns after cutting". But I've never had any suppliers refuse to credit me for flaws or shortages. They always take my word for it. If it's COM from a customer or decorator.......not my problem anyway. I just call them and tell them to get more.

[MinUph]

Ill bet many more do not check than do.

[JuneC]

I do anymore.  I've been burned too many times with roll ends on seating vinyl.  The factories seem to leave vinyl ridges near the end of the roll where they're placing liquid vinyl on the backing.  There are ridges across the roll that no amount of heat will remove.  If you can cut around it great! But mostly you can't. 

June

[kodydog]

I always check for yardage before cutting. Nothing worse than getting near the the end of the job and discover I was shorted a yard or two.

Even when working for my employer. Many times they will hand me a bolt of fabric and say, I think its enough.

I told the new guy to always check but of course he chose not to on a velvet job. The end of the bolt was damaged and they couldn't get more. The customer had to chose another and the new guy had to start over. The boss was giving him a hard time so I came to his defense. I asked why the fabric wasn't checked at the time of sale? Not only for flaws but also yardage. It would have saved a lot of headaches. Am I wrong?

[Mojo]

I rarely ever inspect my fabric but then I am not dealing in high dollar stuff.

If I have some fabric with bad spots that screws up my yardage I call Miami and its taken care of. I buy in full rolls and I do not have the time to unroll and roll back up 65 yards.

I am not sure about vinyl or upholstery fabric but with acrylic it is inspected at the factory and typically marked with little orange stickers on where the flaw may be. They are real good at this and rarely ever miss a flaw. If I am buying cut yardage and I have an impossible time line I am working with, the gang at Miami in Jacksonville will inspect the yardage I am buying as they roll it up. If they find a serious flaw they will get me fabric without flaws.

Now here is something I did not know until 2 years ago when I was educated on the issue. All factories will produce flawed fabric. There is not a fabric maker who makes perfect fabric. If the flaw does not effect the performance of the fabric and is only visual and minor then the fabric is sold. Some runs will produce thousands of yards at a time. Rolls are cut from this massive yardage and then graded according to flaws. So some rolls ( 65 yards in acrylic ) may have 2 flaws. Some rolls may have 5 and so on. This is where it gets interesting.

Each one of our suppliers have quality standards that pertain to their purchases. Some will buy fabric that has 6 flaws per roll and others have tighter requirements. Miami has strict requirements of a max of 3. Where it gets real interesting is what happens to the really flawed rolls ? Say those with 8 or 10 flaws per roll ?

The manufacturers will offer big discounts and some suppliers will buy it through back door deals. Sometimes wholesalers and middle men will jump in, buy it and then move it into the market through small suppliers. I know of a few small suppliers in this country that does this. Years ago I bought some of their crap and I got what I paid for. It had serious flaws that effected performance due to a bad finish job during the run.

This is why I stay clear of the smaller suppliers. When I buy Sattler or Recacril from Miami I know exactly its path to my door. From the Factory direct to Miami and then to me. No middle men or brokers.

So there you have it. I rarely inspect my fabric as I rarely ever have a problem. In the couple cases I did, Miami and the manufacturer took care of me. But if I was working with $ 100 / yd fabric you can bet I would be inspecting it.

Chris

[mike802]

I always check for yardage and flaws.  Most of the time it is ok, but I have had some suppliers who are famous for shorting me 1/2 yard on a regular basis, most add an extra 1/2 yard.  Flaws, if they are small, I will circle in advance so I can plan around them, rarely do I have yardage so flawed it has to go back.  I don't feel doing this kind of check is a wast of time, If I had to start a sofa over again even once a year because I did not check would more that eat up the time I would have saved by checking.

[Darren Henry]

Flaws, if they are small, I will circle in advance so I can plan around them

I always do that with leather. Imagine spending all the time to make a pair of uppers [former ortho-shoemaker,remember] then lasting them and spending 2 hours hand stitching the welt on and coming back the next day after they dried and finding out that they were garbage. 1/2 weeks work down the tube.

[Rich]

I have always rolled it out to check for imperfections and correct yardage. I stopped buying from one supplier when they continued to send me vinyl that had small razor cuts (careless unpacking?) that I didn't even see until I had sewn it up and started to stretch it over the seat cushion.
Also, I remember being told by a local supplier years ago about unscrupulous suppliers who count on their customers not checking their yardage and shorting them a few inches. He said you know those few inches add up to many yards over time.
Makes sense.
Rich

[gene]

I have yardage marks on my cutting table so when I roll out the bolts to inspect them I also count the yardage. I've only been short a few times.

Last year I had at least 5 bolts where they had shipped more than an extra yard. I don't know what this is about??? One thought is that if a customer ordered 10 yards and the supplier has a bolt of 11 yards sitting there, would they ship the 11 yards? I wouldn't think so but why else would I get more yardage that the customer had bought?

I love JoAnn Fabrics fabric cutting table. It has a motor to pull the fabric and roll it onto a new paper tube. Wouldn't that be a great item to have in your shop to inspect fabrics?

I asked a manager at JoAnn Fabrics once if JoAnns sells those tables. She looked at me like I was nuts. Well, I think she may have been looking at me that way before I asked.

gene

[sofadoc]

I seldom measure the roll first. Only on big jobs when I am really cutting it close. Any time I have ever measured, there has always been a little more than I paid for.

Rich mentioned unscrupulous suppliers that fudge a few inches in their favor on every sale. And all those inches add up to extra profits for the supplier.

BUT those rolls are being measured out by some hourly employee who doesn't give a rip about a few extra inches of profit for his boss.

Any time I have called to check availability, and their computer SAYS that they have 5 or 6 yards left, in reality they only have 3 or 4 (and it's in 3 pieces).

[bobbin]

Yes.  And I've been stunned by the red "hangers" that are included to draw attention to a flaw.  Whenever I find one I call and negotiate price.